Palmeiro’s Homer a Top-40 Hit Again

While the power focus is on Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro is putting up some pretty big numbers.

Palmeiro reached 40 homers for the second consecutive year, hitting his 10th in 11 games as the Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-2, Friday night behind Rick Helling’s six-hitter at Toronto.

Palmeiro drove in three runs, raising his season total to 124, second in the major leagues behind Cleveland’s Manny Ramirez, who has 130. Palmeiro, who had a career-high 43 homers last season with the Baltimore Orioles, hit a sacrifice fly in the third, a solo homer in the sixth and a run-scoring grounder in the seventh.

He is one short of Ken Griffey for the American League lead in homers and his .341 batting average puts him among the top six.

Asked if he could win the Triple Crown, Palmeiro knocked on wood.

“One day when I’m out of this game, hopefully people will look down and see my numbers and say I had a pretty good career,” Palmeiro said. “But that’s not important to me, I’m happy in doing my job and helping my team win.”

Helling (11-7), who hasn’t lost in 13 starts, struck out eight and walked two in his eighth complete game, his third this season.

Helling gave up both runs in the fifth: Carlos Delgado’s homer off the screen on the left-field foul pole and Darrin Fletcher’s run-scoring double.

Toronto, which has lost seven consecutive home games, dropped two games back in the AL wild-card race.

Chris Carpenter (9-8) lost his third consecutive start, giving up six runs and 10 hits in five innings.

Lee Stevens’ two run homer put the Rangers ahead in the second, and they made it 5-0 in the third on Juan Gonzalez’s run-scoring single and consecutive sacrifice flies by Palmeiro and Todd Zeile.

Palmeiro’s homer in the sixth, which barely cleared the wall in left, made it 6-2.

Zeile, who went four for five, had a run-scoring single in the ninth.

New York 8, Seattle 0--Roger Clemens, pitching to catcher Joe Girardi for the first time in 2 1/2 months, looked every bit the ace of the Yankee staff with eight sharp innings at New York.

Clemens (12-6) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and then settled into a groove. He gave up four singles and struck out nine in shutting down the team that leads the majors in home runs.

The Yankees won the opening game of a series for the 13th time in a row. The AL East leaders also stopped the Mariners’ winning streak at three games.

Clemens clicked with Girardi. The veteran catcher had not started any of Clemens’ games since June 6.

All season, the Yankees have waited for a sign Clemens would regain the form that won him five Cy Young Awards. The fans have wanted the same thing and, after light booing when Clemens was introduced, the crowd of 51,985 spent the night cheering for him.

Oakland 9, Chicago 6--Omar Olivares won his career-high 12th game and Jason Giambi drove in three runs as the Athletics kept pace for the AL wild card at Chicago.

Olmedo Saenz’s two-run homer capped a four-run seventh inning for Oakland, who remain tied with the Boston Red Sox for a playoff spot.

Olivares (12-9), acquired July 29 from the Angels, won his fourth consecutive decision with the Athletics. He pitched five innings, giving up three runs and seven hits.

Detroit 5, Baltimore 4--Damion Easley and Gabe Kapler hit consecutive home runs in the eighth inning at Detroit as the Tigers ended a losing streak at three games.

Al Reyes (0-2) relieved Arthur Rhodes with the score 3-3 and Easley connected on his first pitch for his 15th homer. Kapler followed with his 14th, helping send the Orioles to their third consecutive loss.

Jeff Weaver (8-9) won his second consecutive start following a 13-start winless streak. Weaver, who beat the Angels last Saturday for his first victory since May 27, had a 3-0 lead and a one-hitter until the seventh, when B.J. Surhoff hit a two-run homer.

Minnesota 4, Kansas City 1--Eric Milton had 11 strikeouts in eight shutout innings for the Twins at Minneapolis.

Milton (6-10) struck out the side in the first inning, retired the first nine batters he faced and took a two-hitter into the sixth, when the Royals loaded the bases on one-out singles by Jed Hansen, Johnny Damon and Ray Holbert.

He ended the threat by striking out rookie Carlos Beltran for the third time and getting Mike Sweeney on a soft comebacker.